COVID-19 Rates Spike in Southwestern U.S.
COVID-19 positivity rates in the Southwestern U.S. have hit a notable 12.5%, marking the highest level in the country, according to new figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Los Angeles County also reported the highest levels of the virus in its wastewater since February.
This recent increase seems to be driven by the new “Stratus” variant, which is highly contagious. It arrives at a time when students in California are heading back to school, notably without a CDC recommendation for updated COVID vaccinations. This shift in policy, advocated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has drawn criticism from several public health experts.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus mutates frequently, adapting to spread more effectively and evade the immunity gained through vaccinations and past infections. The Stratus variant, first identified in Asia back in January, made its way to the U.S. by March and became the dominant strain by the end of June. It currently makes up about two-thirds of virus variants detected in wastewater across the nation, according to the CDC.
Interestingly, the national COVID positivity rate reached 9% in early August. This is higher than the rate seen during the January post-holiday surge but still below last August’s peak of 18%. Weekly deaths, a metric that often lags behind positivity figures, have so far remained low.
In May, RFK Jr. announced that the CDC had removed COVID vaccines from its immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women. He argued this was a necessary step to overturn the previous administration’s guidance that encouraged healthy children to receive another COVID shot, even though there was no clinical data backing this repeated booster approach for kids.
This announcement triggered a lawsuit from several leading medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and others, which claimed the decision was “baseless” and didn’t adhere to federal law as it failed to align with the recommendations from the scientific committee that evaluates immunization practices.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has been advising updated COVID vaccinations alongside the usual flu shot guidelines. In a recent update for the upcoming fall 2024-spring 2025 season, it noted that the previous year’s COVID booster significantly reduced hospitalization risk by 44% and death risk by 23%.
Despite acknowledging some isolated cases of heart issues and allergic reactions related to the vaccine, the panel maintained that the benefits outweighed these concerns. Yet, it also recognized that effectiveness could wane as new COVID strains emerge, which the boosters weren’t originally designed to combat. Still, the consensus was that most Americans should get booster shots.
Currently, the CDC estimates that only around 23% of adults and 13% of children took the 2024-25 COVID booster, even with the recommendation. This contrasts sharply with the roughly half of both groups who received the updated flu shot during the same period.
